african american

Sep 9 2010

Enough is enough

While reading an issue of Essence recently, I was touched by an interview the magazine did with its former editor Susan L. Taylor. The topic of the interview was mentoring and why the former editor had become so passionate about the activity. One of the things that stuck out to me was when Taylor stated, “Enough is enough” after revealing that 58 percent of Black fourth graders are functionally illiterate.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Sep 9 2010

Is it time to change the music and the
syncopated beat of being Black in the U.S.?

Clearly, we all suffer. Although suffering may be neither inevitable nor necessary, we all still go though painful stuff, whether we are ‘to the manor born,’ nouveau rich (rappers, producers, athletes, celebrities, etc.), middle-to-making-it, the working poor, or just plain out of it. Whether we have it coming or not, it still sticks us all eventually, and some of us frequently and relentlessly.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 9 2010

Organizers focus on jobs, unity

Several labor unions and the NAACP are planning a rally in Washington, D.C., October 2, to push for improved job creation efforts and to put an end to the idea that the Tea Party represents the views of America’s working people.

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 9 2010

Crack closer to powder

“More than two decades ago, based on assumptions about crack which are now known to be false—for example, that crack offenders were more likely to be violent, or that crack was significantly more dangerous and addictive than powder—heightened penalties for crack cocaine offenses were adopted. Those penalties required 100 times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine to invoke equal mandatory minimum sentences. The impact of the disparity fell disproportionately on African-Americans.”

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 9 2010

The devil wears a veil

America is going crazy. Well, perhaps. As the ninth anniversary of that dreaded tragedy that still has people wondering what really happened, approaches, it appears as if Americans have turned against each other and have forgotten the true meaning of freedom. Maybe many have never known it, but that is not the point here. What is happening is, people, particularly anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim Americans who are bent on fear have been conspiring against, condemn, and instill a sense of fear in the hearts of Americans who identify with Islam, who call themselves Muslim.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.